MGMT - MGMP 603 Federal Taxation
Taxes are a major consideration for businesses, business owners and the individuals they employ. This course provides the basic body of tax knowledge that corporate executives, professionals and entrepreneurs need as a part of business decision making. The same knowledge will be useful for anyone working or investing in the U.S. business arena. Class members should be tax literate at the end of the course. Major topics of the course include the tax universe, tax information sources and tax policy; tax planning concepts; taxable income and deductions for businesses; gains and losses on disposition of assets, and the special cases of non-taxable exchanges; tax reporting and characteristics of the alternative forms of business organization (sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, S corporation and regular corporation); choice of business entity considerations; tax considerations in corporate acquisitions, mergers, divisions and liquidations; introduction to international business taxation; selected topics related to compensation and investments; current developments.

The class will meet once a week; all sessions involve reading and most include a problem assignment. Classes will include substantive discussion, with students expected to be prepared and to take an active part. A final examination will be designed to both reinforce and extend matters covered in class and the text.

MGMT 606 – Corporate Financial Reporting: US GAAP & IFRS
Course covers aspects of interest to corporate finance officers and financial statement readers on a number of critical financial reporting issues, including those related to merchandise inventories, fixed and intangible assets, liabilities, shareholders' equity, business combinations, consolidated financial statements and segment reporting, and the effects of changing prices on net income and rate of return. The strategic role of the newly restructured International Accounting Standards Board, especially as viewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission, will be explored. Students will be apprised of the sweeping and fundamental changes that are occurring today in the milieu of international financial reporting.

MGMT 632 Financial Reporting & Governance
The focus of the course is on the economics of financial reporting. Specifically, the course will emphasize the role of financial reporting as an important control system in corporate governance. The course will examine corporate governance functions, including top management, boards of directors and audit committees, internal control and risk assessment, external auditors and independence, fraud detection, and SEC reviews of filings and enforcement activities. We will evaluate how these functions have performed historically as well as identify and evaluate the financial reporting policies, procedures, and controls that can be employed to promote good corporate governance and ethical decisions. Special attention will be paid to the rapidly changing environment affecting corporate management as they respond to the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and various follow-up reforms. The course will combine leading edge academic thought with contemporary real-life cases to examine these issues.

Communication

MGMT 671 Corporate Crisis Management Strategies
The study of current crisis/issue management with practical application utilizing numerous current and recent real-world situations. Class will research and prepare strategies, make recommendations, then dissect and analyze each crisis/issue situation, the processes, policies and results. This process will enhance strategic thinking, allow the consideration of pros and cons of alternative courses of action and provide a better understanding of the management decision making process. Class time will be interactive with individual and small group participation.

MGMT 694 Interpersonal Communications in Healthcare
This course is designed for second-year MBA students. Your communication skills dictate how
effectively you, as a leader and manager, can move from ideas to execution. Consequently, the instructors expect clear, concise writing and effective speaking. While our grading will focus on content applicable to the course, your usage, grammar, presentation skills, and graphics will also be taken into account. The goals of this class include:1. Understand why good interpersonal communication skills are essential in all workplaces and especially in healthcare settings; 2. Improve interpersonal communication skills by means of lecture, discussion, self-reflection, and, most importantly, practice; 3. Focus on “the healing art of listening” and how to be an effective listener, because this kind of active listening is at the heart of most successful communication; 4. Study & practice body language, emotional intelligence, cross-cultural communication, crucial conversations, and other topics to become better communicators; 5.Gain new and helpful perspectives on this subject from a variety of healthcare professionals, including doctors, administrators, and patients.

MGMT 737 Investor Relations
Students will learn the theory and practice of investor relations: the process of communicating with investors to allow them to make an informed investment decision regarding a corporation’s stock. Investor relations will be examined as it relates to marketing, capital markets, the legal and regulatory framework, finance and communications. Students will learn about who the potential investors in public companies are and how to reach them; the dynamics of the equities markets; the ways investors view companies; communications methods such as press releases, SEC filings, investor presentations and an understanding of the laws and regulations surrounding public companies and investors. Investor relations managers, former CFOs, analysts, and portfolio managers will serve as guest lecturers to discuss today's investment environment.

You will accomplish all the above through a combination of reading, class participation, case study assignments and either an investor relations presentation on a company or a paper analyzing the investor relations activities of a company.

MGMT 770 Consultative Selling
Consultative Selling (MGMT 770) introduces students to the key knowledge, skills, and behaviors required for success in the field of consultative selling. Emphasis is on personal business-to-business selling, as opposed to business-to-consumer sales (retailing and e-business). Topics include the role of sales in creating customer value, types of sales, the customer decision process, the structure of a sales campaign, principles of influence, sales management, and sales ethics. Students will practice key consultative selling skills, including effective questioning, active listening, assessment of client personality and communication styles, creating and delivering persuasive presentations, and client meeting management. All of these activities focus on an on-going case study, in which attendees take the role of sales professionals working with current and prospective customers.

MGMT 771 New Media: Doing Business in the Digital Age
Savvy companies are using new media tools and technologies to achieve new levels of productivity, efficiency and profitability. In this course, students will explore a variety of digital tools—blogs, podcasts, videocasts, wikis, SEO, microblogging, RSS, mashups, networking media, location-based media (foursquare and others) and virtual reality—and how they can and have been employed successfully in internal, B2C and B2B applications. This course reviews current theories and strategies in internal communication, external outreach, marketing, sales, customer service, project management, knowledge management, training and other enterprise 2.0 operations.

During this class, the students will use blogs, Twitter, wikis and virtual reality tools to facilitate discussions. For the final project, the student teams will develop an integrated digital plan applying new media technologies to solve a real-world business problem for a local company.

Energy

MGMT 600 International Energy Simulation
The International Energy Simulation is designed to create a real world environment in which multiple actors align and compete to achieve their distinct objectives. The course focuses on a fictitious nation. Students are assigned to one of 18 teams including government, energy companies, media, public policy institutions and others. Critical success factors include strategic thinking, the ability to build alliances, and a deep understanding of the perspectives of multiple stakeholders.

MGMT 609 Managing in a Carbon Constrained World
This course focuses on the business challenges and opportunities presented by the fast-changing dynamics of climate change and renewable/alternative sources of energy - at the international, federal, and state levels. An understanding of the business models for various sources of energy will be developed. We will consider how to reconcile conflicts between the goal of a lower carbon future and the priorities of energy security and restoring a strong, sustainable, economy. The course will close with corporate responses to the challenge.

The course is intended to benefit students who intend to pursue careers as leaders in industry, finance, government, diplomacy, international agencies, non-government organizations (NGO’s), media, or in academia. The course will challenge you to understand diverse points of view. A background in economics, finance, management, engineering, or public policy will provide a strong foundation, but other disciplines may also apply.

MGMT 610 – Fundamentals of the Energy Industry
The course is based on the principle that one cannot understand commodity markets without a good grasp of the technology and physical infrastructure behind production, transportation, and distribution of energy commodities and linkages between different segments of the energy complex. The review of the industry infrastructure will be followed by discussion of the institutional framework of the energy markets in the US and other developed economies, including discussion of the different types of participating business entities, types of transactions and regulatory infrastructure. The course will be divided into three groups of lectures, covering the natural gas industry, power and coal business and oil / refined products markets, with an additional shorter lecture on regulatory issues.

MGMT 611 Geopolitics of Energy
This course examines decision‐making in response to geopolitical conditions throughout the life cycle of international energy investments. The focus is on “above ground” (non‐technical) risks. These include political, financial, social, and environmental issues that comprise the critical success factors of sustainable investment. We consider the overall framework of geopolitics, interests and demands of host and home governments that may facilitate or impede business, the role of national oil companies as competitors or partners, the structure of multi‐country projects, environmental and social issues during project life or arising from acquisitions, political hot spots, and challenges faced terminating an investment – whether caused by political intervention or on the original timetable.

The course will benefit students who intend to pursue careers as leaders in industry, finance, consulting, government, diplomacy, international agencies, non‐government organizations (NGO’s), media, or in academia. The course will challenge you to understand diverse points of view in order to make decisions and judgments on large, long‐term capital investments. You may find that the principles and lessons apply beyond the energy industry.

MGMT 612 Competition, Carbon & Electricity Policy
This course covers the changes that have occurred over the last twenty years in the electric power industry and the challenges and profit potential of efforts to reduce the industry’s emissions of carbon dioxide. The course will use original source materials to explore the impacts of policy choices on companies and consumers. We will cover economics, finance, engineering, and public policy, and a background in those disciplines will prove useful.

MGMT 628 Entrepreneurship in the Energy Industry
The goal of this course is to examine the process by which entrepreneurial ideas are formed and how they obtain the technical, financial and managerial support to become viable businesses. We will use current examples of companies going through the process, cases which highlight key elements of the process, meet entrepreneurs who are living the journey and share the experiences of the classroom team, both students and teacher.

MGMT 656 Energy Derivatives
Examines the physical energy markets, common financial instruments, and their applications, including cross-commodity hedges, dual variable assets, synthetic options, and swaps. Decision criteria for both outright and risk management trading are covered with respect to both fundamental and technical analysis. Various guest speakers from various companies throughout the industry will participate.

MGMT 669 Business Strategy in the Energy Industry
This is a treatment of some of the most popular strategy business models as they apply to the energy industry. The fundamental concepts of Treacy, Boynton, and Business Design models will be highlighted. Case studies of some of the best-in-class energy companies will demonstrate how some of the above models have become the springboard of successful strategy practices in the energy industry. One of the most popular methodologies in the industry, the Three-Horizon methodology, will be introduced and its successful applicability in the energy industry as being one of the most effective tools in growth sustainability and risk minimization will be clearly demonstrated.

MGMT 745 International Energy Development
This course examines how energy companies construct portfolios of international assets. The first half of the course focuses on the lifecycle of international energy projects, from the point at which a company decides it wishes to acquire an international project to the point at which the company divests that interest. These initial classes will discuss the business development processes companies employ to identify, analyze and acquire overseas assets; the typical commercial structures and contracts used to acquire rights and obligations in different types of energy projects; how companies build and manage relationships with host governments, including cultural difference, negotiation and corruption; issues related to joint ventures and joint operations with other companies; threats to international project cash flow such as renegotiation, expropriation and force majeure; and how companies structure exits and divestments from international energy projects. The last half of the course examines in detail a few specific projects that Professor Gaille has been involved in – including oil and gas exploration in Africa and a 2 billion cubic feet per day natural gas pipeline project in the Middle East. The course concludes with students being divided into teams or “companies” and then engaging in a dynamic bid round and petroleum exploration exercise, whereby students compete with one another to acquire acreage and then create (or destroy) net present value.

The course will benefit students who intend to pursue careers in the energy industry and with companies that finance the energy industry (private equity, investment banks, hedge funds). Students in other industries will find that the principles and lessons of the course also apply beyond the energy industry, particularly in areas of business development skills and international asset strategies.

Entrepreneurship

MGMT 624 Real Estate
This course emphasizes the components and processes of real estate industry including identification and analysis of investment and development opportunities from an entrepreneurial standpoint. It utilizes Harvard Cases and requires a major field project. Guest lectures will constitute a portion of most sessions.

MGMT 625 – Creative Entrepreneurship
Designed for those wishing to form their own business. It takes the prospective entrepreneur from the conception stage through the opening of the doors on the first day of business. Students will form teams to make final presentations of their business plans. The winning team of the final presentation will be eligible to participate in the Southwest Business Plan Competition at Rice University. Numerous invited speakers.

MGMT 626 Venture Capital
The goal of Management 626, “Venture Capital,” is to provide students with a general understanding of the venture capital industry. This includes an in-depth overview of the organization, operation and economics of venture capital funds; venture capital term sheets and deal structures; VC investment methodology – deal sourcing, monitoring and liquidation; the role of VCs as key advisors and board members; and current issues in venture capital as a result of a changing global and economic environment. We will use lectures, case studies and articles, class discussions, and speakers to learn about the various aspects of venture capital.

MGMT 627 Enterprise Exchange
This course is designed to help students buy and sell smaller, closely-held (i.e., not publicly-held) businesses. As such, it visits the entire spectrum of managerial problems that the Jones Graduate School student explores in earlier courses. Although it deals with the very basics of buying and selling smaller businesses, it is also designed as a capstone course which draws heavily on knowledge obtained in earlier courses.

Students will learn how to evaluate business opportunities and business models. They will analyze their own backgrounds as a foundation for purchasing a business venture. They will be introduced to the “needs” approach to buying and selling businesses, and develop valuation models for pricing and negotiating the acquisition contract structure. Merger and acquisition concepts learned for publicly-held corporations will be applied to smaller leveraged buy-outs and consolidating fragmented industries.

Taxation, financing, and deal structure issues will be also discussed. Finally, methods of harvesting value will be reviewed.

MGMT 628 Entrepreneurship in the Energy Industry
The goal of this course is to examine the process by which entrepreneurial ideas are formed and how they obtain the technical, financial and managerial support to become viable businesses. We will use current examples of companies going through the process, cases which highlight key elements of the process, meet entrepreneurs who are living the journey and share the experiences of the classroom team, both students and teacher.

MGMT 629 Business Plan Development
This course teaches the concepts behind a business plan using an approach called “The Deconstructed Business Plan”. This approach takes the components of the business plan and breaks them apart – each one having its own focus as part of the overall plan. This class looks beyond the traditional approach to a business plan and focuses on what really drives a great plan – sales and products and how you get customers to buy them. Most business plans and entrepreneurs focus too much on finance and forget that businesses only thrive when they sell and market effectively. This concept seems very simple yet business plans often forget this key point. Class will be taught via a series of lectures, videos, in class assignments and guest lecturers. You will be given time during class to work on your plans and will also working with other teams to get feedback. We will work on presentation and sales skills and in nearly every class, we will have some teams present their ideas and plans for peer review.

MGMT 633 Life Science Entrepreneurship
The roles of physicians, scientists, engineers, and MBA’s in biotech, medical device, and other life science companies will be described and characterized. The major trends and innovations driving the creation of new products in large established companies and venture-capital-backed startup companies are discussed. This pragmatic, experienced-based course describes the venture capital process, formation, and capitalization of high-tech companies, sources of technologies, role of tech transfer at universities and medical schools, startup operational issues, role of VCs and board members, execution time frames, liquidity process, IPOs and mergers, and payout prospects for founders and investors. Live, ongoing case studies are presented by guest entrepreneurs.

These case studies of ongoing biotech, medical device, and healthcare informatics companies are presented by many notable M.D. and Ph.D. founders and CEOs. Rules of professional and ethical conduct of M.D.s, Ph.D.s, scientific advisory boards, clinical advisory boards, and boards of directors are reviewed. In the final classes, a high-tech, career-planning guide is discussed, plus a special lecture on leadership, intelligence, and entrepreneurship will be presented. Insider secrets and success stories from decades of highly successful VC practice in medical, biotech and infotech companies will be shared.

MGMT 734 Technology Entrepreneurship
The point of this class is to learn how to commercialize technology by actually doing it. There will be a set of Rice technologies that are ready for commercialization have been selected from the various labs around Rice University. Alternatively, students may have viable product or service technology ideas that can be considered for commercialization. The teams of students each will work with a technical post-graduate student when necessary to form an actual company around these technologies. By the end of this course, the group should have a business plan and presentation that they are able to take to investors, and/or begin operations or startup of the company. Real investors will actually be part of the audience in the final presentations.

MGMT 741 Managing Growth
The focus of the course is how to transform a small business into a large business: putting systems and processes in place to create a foundation for growth, driving a transformation both internally and externally, and leading people through that transition. Your basic MBA skills are essential building blocks for success in these activities, but we will learn to apply those skills to small businesses with growth potential.

MGMT 749 Topics in Family Business Management
Family businesses present a more complicated decision-making environment due to the overlap of three distinct systems: family, ownership and control. This course is a case-based course that survey’s key topic areas for owners and managers of family-owned businesses: overlap of family system with the business, governing the family business, conflicts in family relationships, entering the family business, succession, estate planning, special valuation issues and ownership transfer. All of the above will be covered in case analyses and supplemented with readings in the text (Gersick, et.al.) and related articles.

MGMT 630 Financial Markets
The content of this course is a microeconomic focus on the functioning and structure of financial markets and financial institutions. By the end of the course students will be able to describe how information asymmetry problems affect financial transactions and market outcomes, analyze different financial market structures, and understand how no-arbitrage concepts apply to valuation tasks.

We will study how firms raise external capital to fund investment in real assets and how markets and financial intermediaries assist in this. We will learn many of the details that are assumed away in other core courses, and this class will help you see how corporate finance and investments fit together as a cohesive whole. Particular attention will be given to the role of investment banks in financial transactions.

MGMT 642 – Futures & Options I
An introduction to forward, futures, option, and swap contracts, including the basic valuation principles, the use of these contracts for hedging financial risk, and an analysis of option-like investment decisions. Recommended for finance students.

MGMT 643 – Portfolio Management I
Students will gain hands on exposure to many aspects of investment management by managing 'live' portfolio (the M.A. Wright Fund) of endowed assets. The first semester's work (students must continue to MGMT 644) is predominately focused on stock analysis and valuation. Admission is by application and interview only.

MGMT 644 – Portfolio Management II
This course is a continuation of MGMT 643 with a focus on investment portfolio management including responsibility for sector analysis and strategy, and risk / return evaluation. Four students (elected in MGMT 643) will serve as the Wright Fund's officers. Recommended corequisite(s): MGMT 645.

MGMT 646 Corporate Investment Policy
This course examines the investment decisions faced by corporate managers. We begin by developing a general framework for corporate valuation, and then we use this framework to review and expand on the capital budgeting issues developed in the core finance course. For example, we review the foundations of option valuation, and then apply these tools to value real options. We also cover new material on estimating the cost of capital and the effects of leverage and taxes. In this course, you will learn the state of the art tools and techniques for the evaluation of corporate investment decisions.

The course format is a mixture of theory, empirical evidence, and practical application. The theory provides the framework for our analysis. The empirical evidence provides a core of stylized facts to support our theoretical intuition. Practical applications put to use the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence in “real world” decision-making situations.

MGMT 650 Futures & Options II
This course examines the theory and practice of derivative securities. The markets for these securities have grown tremendously during the past 30 years, leading to a proliferation of trading strategies, valuation and hedging techniques, and new product innovation. Many different types of firms trade derivatives, and the underlying concepts are often used in more general corporate finance and investments applications. As a result, a good understanding of derivatives is useful for applications in other areas of finance including portfolio management, corporate finance, investment banking, corporate strategy, and speculative trading.

MGMT - MGMP 651 Fixed Income Management
The course provides an in-depth analysis of the concepts that are most often encountered in the market for fixed income securities. The goals of the course are twofold: (i) to illustrate the fundamental concepts that are commonly used for analyzing fixed income instruments; (ii) to investigate how the fundamental concepts are related to the institutional structures that are most often encountered in practice. The course will focus on topics that are most likely to have practical relevance for students once they graduate. The goals are accomplished via a combination of case studies, lectures, problem sets (to be handed in). Some of the topics that will be covered include term structure of interest rate, duration-based analysis, inverse floater, corporate bond markets, mortgage-backed securities.

MGMT 652 Mergers & Acquisitions
In this course we examine the core concepts involved in mergers and acquisitions: the takeover process, the legal and regulatory framework, accounting issues, tax consequences, payment method, theories and empirical tests of mergers and acquisitions, and valuation. We also focus on corporate restructuring and divestitures, financial restructuring, and corporate governance issues.
The course format is a mixture of theory, empirical evidence, and practical application. The theory provides the framework for our analysis. The empirical evidence provides a core of stylized facts to support our theoretical intuition. And, the practical applications put to use the theoretical foundations and empirical evidence in “real world” decision-making situations.
The class will conclude with a M&A project in which students will analyze a current M&A transaction. Students will present their analysis during class at the end of the course.

MGMT 653 Cross Border Investments
Cross-Border Investments builds on critical thinking developed in Core courses such as Strategy, Finance and Ethics. This course examines the strategic rationale and valuation of international investments in various real-world scenarios including corporate acquisitions, public equities, leveraged buyouts, restructurings and entrepreneurial ventures. The approach is case-based and spans situations in the telecommunications, healthcare, consumer, industrial, automotive, financial, and business services sectors of the global economy. While the primary focus is on fundamental analysis, students will also deepen their understanding of the international economy, political risk, corporate governance and other non-financial considerations.

MGMT 657 International Finance
Exploration of special problems encountered by financial officers in international arenas. Includes the economics of the foreign exchange market, exchange rate risk management, international portfolio management, capital budgeting for international projects, and international financing strategies.

MGMT 658 Financial Risk Management
The last few years have highlighted the importance of sound risk management for corporations. This course is designed to provide a broad foundation in financial risk management by highlighting both theory and practice. The basic question that risk management theory explores is why should a firm manage risk. An understanding of this helps define the specifics of a risk management program – which risks should be managed and how should they be managed. We will examine these questions through cases that discuss them in a real world context.

Students in this course will gain a good understanding of the roots of financial risk management in finance theory and gain exposure to the frontier of risk measurement and management techniques. The tools covered in this course range from regression analysis to Value-at-Risk (VaR) analysis using Monte Carlo simulation. The course also covers refinements such as scenario analysis and stress testing.

MGMT 659 Real Estate Finance
This course has two major objectives: First, this course provides an overview of topics related to real estate finance. Specifically, this course provides a detailed description of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model applied to real estate. The DCF model is the main financial decision tool used in the real estate industry and we use it extensively in this course. In addition, this course also describes the connection between financial markets and real estate. A large part of this course is devoted to the study of public traded securities that have their cash flows tied to real property cash flows, such as commercial mortgage-backed securities and REITs. Second, this course is the first elective related to real estate in a series available to Rice MBA students, and hence it briefly overviews basic concepts commonly used in the Real Estate Industry.

This course aims to be useful to students interested in pursuing a career in real estate investment who have no experience in real estate. Students interested in the connection between real estate and capital markets may also appreciate this course. After all, the Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) market is the largest fixed income market in the world! Students with a prior career in real estate may already be aware of many of the concepts described in this course. As a result, some of the lectures may be very basic for these students. However, these students may especially appreciate the opportunity to network with the experienced guest speakers and it is unlikely that these students have had previous exposure to the entire material of this course.

MGMT 667 Applied Capital Markets
Focuses on essentials of corporate finance for students interested in capital markets, banking and investment banking. It builds on the basic principles of the structure of the banking system, capital market structures and functions, funding and solvency issues, and also looks at current regulatory, political and agency issues. The emphasis is on an overview of how the banking and investment banking businesses function, empirical evidence / industry speakers, and case studies and requires an understanding of the basic principles of capital markets and finance.

MGMT 695 Stock Analysis
This course brings together some of the topics from Accounting, Finance, Economics and Strategy to better make investment decisions in your personal or corporate portfolio, as an investment management professional or helping you analyze how equity markets view different management decisions. The course consists of hands-on stock analysis and touches upon various aspects of improving your odds in making good investment decisions through both quantitative and qualitative fundamental analysis. We touch on analyzing a company’s franchise, assessing the quality of the management, formulating your own investment thesis, and will use various valuation methods to assess the attractiveness of different stocks. We also review how different political/regulatory, economic, and/or sector-specific macro factors may affect your investment decision. The course makes use of current and historical events including touching upon the aspects of how the emerging markets secular growth impacts different stocks. Various other topics may include how the following affect stock valuation and prices: cash flow, leverage, mergers & acquisitions, spinoffs, corporate governance issues, currency and country exposures, new share offerings, restructuring, and competitive pressures.

Although the course gives you the tools to analyze a company quantitatively, we spend a good amount of time on interpreting the data not necessarily just computation. Investing is an art and a science and so we also focus attention on the “softer” issues in investing like analyzing management integrity and strategy, industry analysis, and behavioral pitfalls in investing.

MGMT 696 Security Analysis
This new course will focus on valuing income streams from different types of securities. Below is a quick list of topics which build from very simple to increasingly complex variations on the theme.

Review net present value calculation under conditions of perfect certainty with respect to all inputs. Review broad application to many types of income streams.

Brief detour into the world of credit default swaps somewhere along the line.

Equity security valuation

Blended securities, implied options

Asset backed securities

MGMT 726 Fixed Income Portfolio Simulation
In this course, Mgmt 726 – Fixed Income Portfolio Simulation (FIP Sim) students gain hands-on experience in the challenges and excitement of managing a simulated Fixed Income portfolio, including U.S. Treasuries, agencies, sovereigns, corporate bonds and mortgages. FIP Sim ‘student-managers’ actively learn and utilize the resources of the El Paso Corporation Finance Center to set up, research, and manage / trade their simulated portfolios.

Classroom time is used for a combination of lecture / discussion, speakers, interactive Finance Center activities, and professor / student consultation sessions on investment strategy. FIP Sim’s speaker series will highlight experts from various Fixed Income product areas (including traders, researchers and portfolio managers). The course work will leverage off material from co-requisite Mgmt. 651 – Fixed Income Management.

Global Business

MGMT 606 – Corporate Financial Reporting: US GAAP & IFRS
Course covers aspects of interest to corporate finance officers and financial statement readers on a number of critical financial reporting issues, including those related to merchandise inventories, fixed and intangible assets, liabilities, shareholders' equity, business combinations, consolidated financial statements and segment reporting, and the effects of changing prices on net income and rate of return. The strategic role of the newly restructured International Accounting Standards Board, especially as viewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the European Commission, will be explored. Students will be apprised of the sweeping and fundamental changes that are occurring today in the milieu of international financial reporting.

MGMT 634 Commercializing Technology in Developing Countries
This course provides a unique opportunity for students to 1) apply their business school knowledge, 2) learn about business in developing countries, 3) learn about entrepreneurship 4) learn about social enterprise, and 5) help the poor. Students taking this course may be able to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa that tourism can never duplicate. All students will be on project teams.

MGMT 635 Social Enterprise in Developing Countries
This course provides a unique opportunity for students to 1) apply their business school knowledge, 2) learn about business in developing countries, 3) learn about entrepreneurship 4) learn about social enterprise, and 5) help the poor. Students taking this course may be able to participate in a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa that tourism can never duplicate. All students will be on project teams.

MGMT 657 International Finance
Exploration of special problems encountered by financial officers in international arenas. Includes the economics of the foreign exchange market, exchange rate risk management, international portfolio management, capital budgeting for international projects, and international financing strategies.

MGMT 661 International Business Law
This course is designed to provide the MBA student with an overview of private and public international law as it applies to business. A major emphasis of the course will be to consider the various types of problems which can arise during the course of international business transactions, as well as what specific, practical actions can be taken to prevent and/or deal with such problems.

MGMT 668 International Trade
This course hopes to increase the scope and depth of your thinking about globalization. The course will concentrate on the institutions that foster international commerce, particularly the World Trade Organization and, to a lesser extent, U.S. trade policies. The intention is to complement the experiences that many of you have (or hope to have) with international business by focusing on the institutions that allow for international trade and foreign direct investment – like governments, supra-governmental institutions, and multinational corporations. By the end, you should be able to understand not only the rationales behind the international trading system but also some of its nuances.

MGMT 702 Mexico-Costa Rica Study Abroad
The goal of this course is to educate students on how business is conducted in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Latin America. Additionally, students will gain an appreciation for the vibrancy and importance of the Mexican and Latin American economy to the United States and the world. The hope is that we will be creating future business leaders who understand that Mexico and Latin America are great places to conduct business with a plethora of opportunities. Additionally, we want students to understand that Latin America is an invaluable business partner for the United States.

MGMT 713 Strategic Issues for Global Business
This course seeks to provide students with the skills, knowledge and sensitivity required to attain and maintain sustainable competitive advantage within a global environment. The course will adopt a strategic perspective and will highlight the following topics from this perspective: the motivation of going global, the competitive context in which companies operate in global industries, the characteristics of global, multi-domestic and transnational strategies, the role of organizational structures and the importance of strategic control. Case studies used in the course will help you develop your analytical and decision making skills and also highlight the reality of environmental uncertainties influencing decision making in the global context. Cases also seek to develop your capacity to identify issues, to reason carefully through various options and improve your ability to manage the organizational process by which decisions get formed and executed. In addition to case analyses we will also read and discuss recent articles from the business press and academic journals on issues relevant to operating in a global context. Thus, students will develop historical and current, theoretical and practical, perspectives on operating in a global context.

MGMT 720 Strategy & Managing International Strategic Alliances
This course seeks to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and sensitivity required to structure and manage strategic alliances/joint ventures within a global environment. In this course, we will discuss the following topics: motivations for joining strategic alliances/joint ventures, partner selection, structuring strategic alliances/joint ventures to meet firms’ strategic objectives, control and management of alliances/joint ventures, evaluation of performance of alliances/joint ventures, and exiting alliances/joint ventures.

MGMT 745 International Energy Development
This course examines how energy companies construct portfolios of international assets. The first half of the course focuses on the lifecycle of international energy projects, from the point at which a company decides it wishes to acquire an international project to the point at which the company divests that interest. These initial classes will discuss the business development processes companies employ to identify, analyze and acquire overseas assets; the typical commercial structures and contracts used to acquire rights and obligations in different types of energy projects; how companies build and manage relationships with host governments, including cultural difference, negotiation and corruption; issues related to joint ventures and joint operations with other companies; threats to international project cash flow such as renegotiation, expropriation and force majeure; and how companies structure exits and divestments from international energy projects. The last half of the course examines in detail a few specific projects that Professor Gaille has been involved in – including oil and gas exploration in Africa and a 2 billion cubic feet per day natural gas pipeline project in the Middle East. The course concludes with students being divided into teams or “companies” and then engaging in a dynamic bid round and petroleum exploration exercise, whereby students compete with one another to acquire acreage and then create (or destroy) net present value.

The course will benefit students who intend to pursue careers in the energy industry and with companies that finance the energy industry (private equity, investment banks, hedge funds). Students in other industries will find that the principles and lessons of the course also apply beyond the energy industry, particularly in areas of business development skills and international asset strategies.

MGMT 748 International Business Briefing – Rwanda
This course provides a unique opportunity for students to 1) apply their business school knowledge, 2) learn about business in developing countries, 3) learn about entrepreneurship 4) learn about social enterprise, and 5) help the poor. Students participating in this portion of the course will also be able to have a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Africa that tourism can never duplicate. All students will be on project teams.

MGMT 786 International Business Briefing – China
International Business Briefing is an elective course open to all Rice MBA students. The course consists of an overseas trip involving lectures by host university faculty and site visits to companies where students can meet with executives to discuss opportunities and challenges of doing business in the country. Previous destinations have included Shanghai and Beijing, China.

MGMT 789 International Business Briefing – India
The goal of this course is to educate students on how business is conducted in India and make them aware of the vibrancy and importance of the Indian economy to the United States and the world. The hope is that we will be creating future business leaders who understand that the India is a great place to conduct business with numerous opportunities.

MGMT 797 International Business Briefing – South America
MGMT 797 is an elective course designed to give Jones students an opportunity to experience an international field study by visiting Argentina and Brazil. The course activities include lectures hosted by university faculty, participating in numerous company site visits, and exploring the destination cities: Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. This course will study the business landscape in Argentina and Brazil. Objectives of MGMT 797 are to enhance students’ appreciation of the many opportunities and obstacles of conducting business in South America and to broaden their perspective on issues in global business. Ideally, the student’s interest in engaging in Latin American ventures will be heightened, remaining cognizant of and sensitive to cross‐cultural issues.

Health Care

MGMT 633 Life Science Entrepreneurship
The roles of physicians, scientists, engineers, and MBA’s in biotech, medical device, and other life science companies will be described and characterized. The major trends and innovations driving the creation of new products in large established companies and venture-capital-backed startup companies are discussed. This pragmatic, experienced-based course describes the venture capital process, formation, and capitalization of high-tech companies, sources of technologies, role of tech transfer at universities and medical schools, startup operational issues, role of VCs and board members, execution time frames, liquidity process, IPOs and mergers, and payout prospects for founders and investors. Live, ongoing case studies are presented by guest entrepreneurs.

These case studies of ongoing biotech, medical device, and healthcare informatics companies are presented by many notable M.D. and Ph.D. founders and CEOs. Rules of professional and ethical conduct of M.D.s, Ph.D.s, scientific advisory boards, clinical advisory boards, and boards of directors are reviewed. In the final classes, a high-tech, career-planning guide is discussed, plus a special lecture on leadership, intelligence, and entrepreneurship will be presented. Insider secrets and success stories from decades of highly successful VC practice in medical, biotech and infotech companies will be shared.

MGMT 678 – US Health Care Management
Sequence of offerings that provides an introduction to the business of health care in the U.S. Topics include health care systems, health service organizations, and issues relating to the aging problem and the technology explosion in health care. Required elective for MD/MBA's dual degree students.

MGMT 679 Cost & Quality in Healthcare
MGMT 679 focuses on the significant challenges our Healthcare system faces in improving quality and patient safety while trying to contain the explosive growth of Healthcare system expenditures. Term III examines how healthcare quality is measured, where we stand today, and the business case for improving safety and quality. Term IV builds on that foundation in looking to the rest of the world for how they run their healthcare systems, how we compare, and how the recent healthcare reform law might change our systems for better or worse. With the fluid state of the economy and the transition to a very different dynamic with a Republican House of Representatives and a Democratic Presidency that is refining its agenda, some of term IV may be revised to fit with the current state of implementation or modification of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Term III culminates with a reflective paper on challenges and proposals to improve quality. The major group project for Term IV places you in charge of the US Healthcare system. How will you, as policy makers and leaders, design or redesign the system?

MGMT 690 Healthcare Strategy
The Healthcare sector, which includes areas such as health care delivery, payment, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, etc., is an important part of any economy and society in all countries of the world including the US. This sector presents an exciting platform for upcoming business leaders in pursuit of a promising and transformational professional career.

This elective course offer students interested in this sector the opportunity to study and review core strategy concepts, analytical techniques, and frameworks relevant to developing, evaluating, and implementing value-creating strategies for organizations operating in various sectors of the healthcare space.

MGMT 691 Negotiations for Healthcare
This course is tailored for an audience interested in healthcare. We will talk about how the characteristics of the healthcare industry impinge on negotiations, and the exercises and simulations conducted are based in a healthcare context.

At the same time, however, bear in mind that there are certain skills and techniques fundamental to negotiations that are not unique to any particular context or industry. What fundamentally differentiates healthcare is the substance of agreements negotiated, not the negotiating process itself and its basic strategies, tactics, and techniques. You will benefit, obviously, by steeping yourself into the economics of healthcare, the regulatory framework, and the institutional character of organizations that operate in the industry.

Marketing

MGMP 684 Brand Management
Brand Management is an elective class that addresses important branding decisions faced by an organization. Its basic objectives are: 1) to provide students with a complete understanding of the consumer and of how consumers develop brand attitudes and behaviors; 2) to increase understanding of the important issues in planning and evaluating brand strategies; and 3) to provide a forum for students to apply branding strategies in a variety of domains. Particular emphasis is placed in the course on understanding psychological principles at the consumer or customer level that will improve managerial decision-making with respect to brands. One aim of the course is to make these concepts relevant for any type of organization (public or private, large or small, etc.).

MGMT 639 Marketing of Professional Services in the Global Economy
This fast-paced, highly interactive and energetic course will explore the fundamental concepts, strategies and best practices of marketing professional services in today’s global economy—and how this marketing differs from marketing tangible goods and non-professional services. Students will learn the importance of branding, public relations, crisis communications, and Web 2.0 to promoting professional services today, and how to successfully integrate those vehicles with traditional marketing strategies.

A real world, hands-on marketing project for an actual professional service provider client (to be supplied by the instructor) will give students the opportunity to implement the lessons learned in this course. Each student team will work directly with its professional service provider client, analyze the client’s current marketing strategies, and prepare a customized marketing plan (to be presented to the class on the final day).

MGMT 680 Customer Analytics for Satisfaction & Loyalty
Introduction to major concepts in the analysis of customer satisfaction and loyalty, with emphasis on managerial applications. Also examines related consumption and post-purchase phenomena related to customer satisfaction and loyalty. Open only to second-year MBA students.

MGMT 681 Marketing Communications
In this course, we will focus primarily on marketing communications and on the concept of Integrated Marketing Communications as defined by Belch and Belch in the assigned text. Integrated Marketing Communications is a strategic business process used to develop, execute, and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communications programs over time with consumers, customers, prospects, employees, associates, and other targeted relevant external and internal audiences. The goal is to generate both short‐term financial returns and build long‐term brand and shareholder value.

MGMT 682 Pricing Strategies
This one-term course will systematically study the factors to be considered when setting price and learn how pricing alternatives are developed. The pricing decision process depends on economic, marketing, and behavioral phenomena. Each of these perspectives provides unique insights into the pricing decisions that we will consider. While the emphasis of this course is on one component of the marketing mix (i.e., pricing), it is important to keep in mind that pricing is not independent of other marketing decisions. An important challenge in this course is to integrate the pricing decision back into the marketing mix and evaluate its effectiveness in achieving broader managerial objectives.

The objectives of this course are to formulate, construct, and assess pricing strategies. To accomplish these objectives I will introduce analytical methods and we will explore new approaches for solving pricing decisions. This course will use a combination of lectures, cases, class discussion, exercises, and an individual project.

MGMT 686 – Marketing Research
The objective of the course is to provide a comprehensive look at the marketing research process and the associated data collection techniques that can be used to collect information to better manage the marketing mix. Qualitative, survey-based, and experimental research designs will be discussed.

MGMT 687 Marketing Strategy
The course lays out a framework for marketing strategy and guides students through each step in the development process. While business challenges are inevitable, developing and following a well-structured marketing strategy, as laid out in this course, will help avoid many of the pitfalls that can lead businesses into trouble. Case studies, together with examples from the professor’s lengthy business career, will be used to illustrate the principles and identify pathways out of trouble should it occur.

MGMT 689 Marketing Decision Models
Successful management requires the ability to recognize a decision situation, understand its essential features, and make a choice. However, many of these situations - particularly those involving uncertainty and/or complex interactions - may be too difficult to grasp intuitively, and the stakes may be too high to learn by experience. This course introduces spreadsheet modeling, simulation, decision analysis and optimization to represent and analyze such complex problems. The skills learned in this course are applicable in almost all aspects of business and should be helpful in future courses.

MGMT 692 Customer Relationship Management
Increasingly, firms want to enhance profitability by using strategies and tactics that fall under the broad domain of customer relationship management (CRM). In this course, students take a marketer’s perspective when assessing the strategic and operational impacts of CRM in a variety of industry/customer settings. Because CRM requires cross functional coordination, successful implementation often expands the role and impact of the marketing organization within the firm. Thus, students also will learn how customer centricity, as an organizational mindset, changes expectations chief marketing officers, as well as other senior marketing managers, as they attempt engage others in CRM strategy development and execution.

Three perspectives serve as a foundation for learning about CRM in this course: (1) CRM as a strategy that prioritizes the allocation of organizational resources toward serving customers profitably, (2) CRM as a organizational capability to gather and use customer intelligence to create value for both customers and the firm and 3) CRM as a technology-enabled process that supports customer-centric goals and tactics. Thus, students will gain an appreciation for the critical roles that information management and technology play in supporting CRM strategies but content of the course will focus on strategic and operational issues related to CRM success.

Operations

MGMT 622 Strategic Operations & Supply Chain Management
This course explores strategic operations and supply chain management. It provides content and pragmatic executive perspectives on overall operations/supply chain strategies as well as delve into four major capabilities (supply & demand management, sourcing & procurement, manufacturing/service delivery, and performance improvement/quality). The concepts are applicable to manufacturing and service industries; and, they are applicable to large corporations and small businesses.

Course activities provide the opportunity to build content knowledge, apply their expertise to operations and supply chain management situations, and explore cutting-edge topics in operations and supply chain management. They will benefit students who may be relatively new to operations and supply chain management, as well as students who may bring real-world experience.

The course environment will be collegial, collaborative, and highly interactive with a mixture of team-based and individual activities. Class sessions include multiple activities and student preparation will be critical to maximize the value of the class to themselves, as well as their classmates.

MGMT 664 Leading Operational Change
It is time to bid a final farewell to the paradigm of the First Industrial Revolution, and the foundations of “modern” management, which were laid by people like Frederick Taylor, Henry Ford, and Alfred P. Sloan at the beginning of the last century. I will use an article from the Harvard business Review entitled “Moon Shots for Management” by Gary Hamel to stimulate our thinking. Gary heads up a think tank organization in California called the Management Lab. In May 2008, with the help of McKinsey & Co., he brought together a diverse mix of veteran academics, new age management thinkers, progressive CEOs, and venture capitalists. They were asked to address the following questions.

What is it about the way large organizations are managed, structured, and led that will most imperil their ability to thrive in the decades ahead? What sort of changes will be needed in future management principles and practices to build companies that are truly fit for the future? The group developed a list of 25 Grand Challenges for managers which Gary Hamel calls Moon Shots for managers.

MGMT 759 Digital Business Excellence
After completing the course, students will be able to resolve the following executive priorities:
(1) What value should business leaders expect from information technology?
(2) How do companies stay productive by creating fast, accurate & agile workflow?
(3) How do firms stay lean by provisioning useful, reliable & cost-effective services?
(4) How do companies out-think the competition by building organizational intelligence?
(5) How can firms establish organizational identities across many companies?
(6) How do firms stay ahead by cultivating technology-based innovation?
(7) What competencies must leaders possess to create digital business advantage?

Organizational Behavior

MGMT 618 Complexities of People & Organizations
Complexities of People & Organizations is a seminar focused on contemporary issues in organizational behavior. We will read five books that focus on critical issues that we all face in our work lives and alternative ways in which we can deal with these issues. In our seminar meetings, we will critically discuss what we have read for each class, reflecting on the authors’ perspectives and views as well as our own.

Real Estate

ARCH 691 Architectural Problems: Seminar
This course offers the unique opportunity for MBA students to work with a team of architects on a development of given site. Groups of students are formed on the first day of classes. Each group is composed by RSA and by JGSB students. The groups have the challenge to identify the best use of the site and to produce development plans that are both economically and architecturally feasible. The RSA students are responsible for the design aspects of the development project, while MBA students are responsible for the financial and marketing aspects of the project.

This course aims to be useful to students interested in pursuing a career in real estate development.
Students interested in real estate investments may also benefit from this course.

MGMT 624 Real Estate
This course emphasizes the components and processes of real estate industry including identification and analysis of investment and development opportunities from an entrepreneurial standpoint. It utilizes Harvard Cases and requires a major field project. Guest lectures will constitute a portion of most sessions.

MGMT 654 Real Estate Capital Markets: Public & Private

MGMT 659 Real Estate Finance
This course has two major objectives: First, this course provides an overview of topics related to real estate finance. Specifically, this course provides a detailed description of the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model applied to real estate. The DCF model is the main financial decision tool used in the real estate industry and we use it extensively in this course. In addition, this course also describes the connection between financial markets and real estate. A large part of this course is devoted to the study of public traded securities that have their cash flows tied to real property cash flows, such as commercial mortgage-backed securities and REITs. Second, this course is the first elective related to real estate in a series available to Rice MBA students, and hence it briefly overviews basic concepts commonly used in the Real Estate Industry.

This course aims to be useful to students interested in pursuing a career in real estate investment who have no experience in real estate. Students interested in the connection between real estate and capital markets may also appreciate this course. After all, the Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS) market is the largest fixed income market in the world! Students with a prior career in real estate may already be aware of many of the concepts described in this course. As a result, some of the lectures may be very basic for these students. However, these students may especially appreciate the opportunity to network with the experienced guest speakers and it is unlikely that these students have had previous exposure to the entire material of this course.

MGMT 660 Legal Risk (Real Estate & the Law)
Legal risk pervades business dealings. This course explores legal risk by educating the student on legal theories, then how to identify, quantify, reduce and accept legal risk, in the context of real estate transactions.Effective interaction with legal counsel will be emphasized.

MGMT 716 Design and Construction Project Delivery Innovations
Students will leave this course with a comprehensive picture of the design and construction industry, the latest concepts of project delivery, concepts of starting a practice and the criteria for becoming a leader in our industry. This understanding should help fill the gaps between theory and practice and greatly enhance an RSA graduate’s career trajectory.

MGMT 746 Real Property
Survey course providing a short but intensive overview of real estate and the real estate industry.

Strategy

MGMT 619 Corporate Governance
Corporate governance is the system by which corporations are directed and controlled; it encompasses the structures, policies, processes, customs, laws, and institutions designed to oversee and control firms. The common mechanisms of corporate governance include the board of directors, incentive programs for top managers, ownership structure, and the market for corporate control (i.e., the threat of takeover). Governance practices differ from company to company and across countries. International managers and sophisticated investors need a professional understanding of these differences as well as a well-grounded understanding of the effects of alternative mechanisms on manager and firm behaviors and, ultimately, firm performance.

The course introduces students to the mechanisms of governance, including some examination of how governance systems differ around the world. Students learn the costs and benefits of alternative governance mechanisms – law, ownership, boards, incentives etc. – and how they can be applied in individual companies.

MGMT 622 Strategic Operations & Supply Chain Management
This course explores strategic operations and supply chain management. It provides content and pragmatic executive perspectives on overall operations/supply chain strategies as well as delve into four major capabilities (supply & demand management, sourcing & procurement, manufacturing/service delivery, and performance improvement/quality). The concepts are applicable to manufacturing and service industries; and, they are applicable to large corporations and small businesses.

Course activities provide the opportunity to build content knowledge, apply their expertise to operations and supply chain management situations, and explore cutting-edge topics in operations and supply chain management. They will benefit students who may be relatively new to operations and supply chain management, as well as students who may bring real-world experience.

The course environment will be collegial, collaborative, and highly interactive with a mixture of team-based and individual activities. Class sessions include multiple activities and student preparation will be critical to maximize the value of the class to themselves, as well as their classmates.

MGMT 661 International Business Law
This course is designed to provide the MBA student with an overview of private and public international law as it applies to business. A major emphasis of the course will be to consider the various types of problems which can arise during the course of international business transactions, as well as what specific, practical actions can be taken to prevent and/or deal with such problems.

MGMT 669 Business Strategy in the Energy Industry
This is a treatment of some of the most popular strategy business models as they apply to the energy industry. The fundamental concepts of Treacy, Boynton, and Business Design models will be highlighted. Case studies of some of the best-in-class energy companies will demonstrate how some of the above models have become the springboard of successful strategy practices in the energy industry. One of the most popular methodologies in the industry, the Three-Horizon methodology, will be introduced and its successful applicability in the energy industry as being one of the most effective tools in growth sustainability and risk minimization will be clearly demonstrated.

MGMT 671 Corporate Crisis Management Strategies
The study of current crisis/issue management with practical application utilizing numerous current and recent real-world situations. Class will research and prepare strategies, make recommendations, then dissect and analyze each crisis/issue situation, the processes, policies and results. This process will enhance strategic thinking, allow the consideration of pros and cons of alternative courses of action and provide a better understanding of the management decision making process. Class time will be interactive with individual and small group participation.

MGMT 676 Social Enterprise
Social Enterprise grapples with the idea of “corporate social responsibility.” Students will examine several production and consumption practices where corporate social responsibility might be exercised. On the production side, we consider activities such as sourcing, production, corporate community affairs and philanthropy, and “bottom of the pyramid.” On the consumption side, we visit “ethical consumption” and market-based social standards via a look at fair trade movement. We also consider the relationships that firms forge with governments and non-governmental organizations.

MGMT 690 Healthcare Strategy
The Healthcare sector, which includes areas such as health care delivery, payment, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, etc., is an important part of any economy and society in all countries of the world including the US. This sector presents an exciting platform for upcoming business leaders in pursuit of a promising and transformational professional career.

This elective course offer students interested in this sector the opportunity to study and review core strategy concepts, analytical techniques, and frameworks relevant to developing, evaluating, and implementing value-creating strategies for organizations operating in various sectors of the healthcare space.

MGMT 691 Negotiations for Healthcare
This course is tailored for an audience interested in healthcare. We will talk about how the characteristics of the healthcare industry impinge on negotiations, and the exercises and simulations conducted are based in a healthcare context.

At the same time, however, bear in mind that there are certain skills and techniques fundamental to negotiations that are not unique to any particular context or industry. What fundamentally differentiates healthcare is the substance of agreements negotiated, not the negotiating process itself and its basic strategies, tactics, and techniques. You will benefit, obviously, by steeping yourself into the economics of healthcare, the regulatory framework, and the institutional character of organizations that operate in the industry.

MGMT 701 Management Consulting
In this course students will 1. Learn about the management consulting industry (e.g., history, evolution, types of firms); 2. Simulate a management consulting engagement (i.e., apply problem solving tools to a real client, work through process from project proposal to implementation); 3. Effectively manage a team project that integrates strategy, operations, and organization challenges(i.e., process, tools and methodologies, team effectiveness)

MGMT 706 Corporate Talent Acquisition & Management
The course takes students through contrasting models of talent identification and sourcing. An emphasis is placed on talent attraction methodologies and theories among Fortune 500 companies, consulting and banking firms and entrepreneurial ventures. Talent sourcing utilizing on line and social networking is explored. Differences between management training programs and experienced hiring recruiting are discussed with global development programs within companies such as ExxonMobil and GE explored and contrasted. Finally, analytics measuring successful sourcing, attraction and retention strategies are reviewed.

MGMT 713 Strategic Issues for Global Business
This course seeks to provide students with the skills, knowledge and sensitivity required to attain and maintain sustainable competitive advantage within a global environment. The course will adopt a strategic perspective and will highlight the following topics from this perspective: the motivation of going global, the competitive context in which companies operate in global industries, the characteristics of global, multi-domestic and transnational strategies, the role of organizational structures and the importance of strategic control. Case studies used in the course will help you develop your analytical and decision making skills and also highlight the reality of environmental uncertainties influencing decision making in the global context. Cases also seek to develop your capacity to identify issues, to reason carefully through various options and improve your ability to manage the organizational process by which decisions get formed and executed. In addition to case analyses we will also read and discuss recent articles from the business press and academic journals on issues relevant to operating in a global context. Thus, students will develop historical and current, theoretical and practical, perspectives on operating in a global context.

MGMT 714 Career Strategy
Business schools and professional schools focus the curriculum on preparing students for the jobs and careers that follow school. Beyond the roles of career offices, however, few programs help students develop skill making decisions about which jobs and (within the professional fields) which careers. These are big decisions. Building skill to make these decisions is the purpose of the Career Strategy course.

MGMT 720 Strategy & Managing International Strategic Alliances
This course seeks to provide students with the skills, knowledge, and sensitivity required to structure and manage strategic alliances/joint ventures within a global environment. In this course, we will discuss the following topics: motivations for joining strategic alliances/joint ventures, partner selection, structuring strategic alliances/joint ventures to meet firms’ strategic objectives, control and management of alliances/joint ventures, evaluation of performance of alliances/joint ventures, and exiting alliances/joint ventures.

MGMT 721 Business Law
This course examines the broad subject of law as it relates to business and is designed to help the student develop “legal astuteness.” That is, the ability to communicate effectively with counsel and to work together with counsel to solve complex problems and/or to protect and leverage the firm’s resources. It is designed to be a guide to understanding how the law impacts daily management decisions and business strategies, to spotting legal issues before they become legal problems, and to using laws and legal tools to marshal resources and manage risk.

Students will leave this course with a greater knowledge of specific laws and regulations affecting today’s managers, as well as the ability to spot and effectively avoid many legal problems that arise in the ever‐changing global business environment.

MGMT 723 Strategic Management of Professional Service Firms
This course examines the strategy and leadership challenges firms face and likewise exposes students to the challenges they will face as professionals in one of these organizations, and ultimately as leaders in such professional service firms. The course will also include visits from managers associated with professional service firms.

MGMT 729 IT for Managers
Companies that successfully exploit IT will sooner or later gain advantages that are difficult to overcome.

Business leaders—executives, strategists, innovators and line managers—largely determine a company’s success with IT. As we shall see in this course, they don't need to become technologists in order to get involved; they do, however, need to understand the interplay of IT and business. Accordingly, there are no technical prerequisites for this course. In the classroom, our focus will be on cases in which business leaders have tried to use IT to enhance organizational development and support competitive strategy. Some succeeded and others failed. From our analysis of their experiences and ideas and principles will present, we will develop some general guidelines for businesses seeking to exploit IT.

MGMT 735 Enterprise Risk Management
Instructed by Alison Vasquez

Today’s executives are risk managers. Responding to events as they arise is not an accepted business practice, and boards and investors expect their executive management teams to identify and prioritize risks and related responses as a critical component to strategic planning and decision making.

This course is designed to actively engage students in techniques employed to identify and evaluate the broad spectrum of interrelated risks faced by today’s companies. Students will gain an understanding of tools, processes, and challenges underlying the design and implementation of an enterprise risk management program as well as an understanding of the skills necessary to develop and propose effective risk mitigation strategies based on a company’s risk appetite and tolerance.

MGMT 768 Legal Issues in Mergers & Acquisitions
This course will examine “the deal” from a legal perspective. The course will focus on what executives need to know to deal effectively with key legal issues in a transactional context and in general takeover defense.

We will discuss contractual and strategic issues in structuring, negotiating and protecting a deal.
We will study deals between strategic partners as well as deals involving non-strategic investors
(such as private equity) and will address discrete issues arising in each scenario.

We will also explore issues of corporate governance and shareholder “activism,” specifically in
the context of both negotiated and hostile transactions. We will discuss the underlying tension
between the statutory duties and authority of the board of directors, on one hand, and the individual interests of shareholders, on the other.